California Division 3 Final: La Verne Lutheran Comes Back To Defeat Bishop O’Dowd

After a wild fourth quarter that saw plenty of lead changes and lutch shots, La Verne Lutheran scored the final six points and defeated Bishop O’Dowd 64-59 in the Division 3 championship game at Power Balance Pavilion (former Arco Arena) in Sacramento.

In a matchup of perhaps the top two power forwards in the 2012 high school class -- La Verne’s Grant Jerrett and Bishop O’Dowd’s Brandon Ashley -- it was shooting guard Kevin Payne who came up clutch to give La Verne (26-5) its second consecutive state championship after winning the Division 5 championship last season.

Payne, a 6-foot-2 senior, hit two 3-pointers in the final two minutes -- his only baskets of the game -- to complete the comeback after his team trailed 45-39 at the end of the third quarter.

The Jerrett-Ashley match-up didn’t disappoint anyone, however, as Jerrett -- who has already given a verbal commitment to play for Arizona -- scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the newly crowned state champions in both categories. Cameron Osorno added 16 points off the bench for La Verne.

Ashley had a game-high 26 points to lead Bishop O’Dowd (25-7) with UCLA head coach Ben Howland and Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar both watching courtside. The 6-foot-8 junior, and seventh-ranked player in his class according to ESPN, has yet to make a college commitment.

Note: In the first quarter of the game, La Verne Lutheran starter Xavier Jones was taken to the hospital when an implanted defibrillator went off, according to the Los Angeles Times. His coach, Eric Cooper, told the newspaper after the game that Jones was fine.